It is the only score to a Rocky film not composed by Bill Conti, but does feature some music he composed for the first film.

The album is often played in gyms and used by people for motivation when working out due to its high intensity rhythm and synthesizers and heroic lyrics. In the film an extensive part of the soundtrack is part of the training, with one track simply named "Training Montage".[5] A number of the tracks on the album, particularly "Eye of the Tiger", "Burning Heart" and "Training Montage" have been cited amongst many people's top 10 "work out tracks".[6]

The 2006 reissue, remastered by BMG, featured the bonus track "Man Against the World" by Survivor, a song written for but cut from the movie.[7] This release also used a different mix of the song "The Sweetest Victory".

In 2010 Intrada released the previously unavailable Vince DiCola tracks.

Contrary to rumors, the song "The Final Countdown" was not included in the soundtrack or the movie[citation needed].

The Vince DiCola instrumental "Farewell" was the B-Side of the A-Side single of "Living in America" in the US and UK and is featured on some foreign pressings of the soundtrack.

The Vince DiCola track "War" would gain frequent use during National Football League telecasts during the 1980s and early 1990s. CBS Sports would often use the track in segments of their introductions discussing the San Francisco 49ers, while NBC would often feature the track in a similar manner for the play-by-play man to set up the action.